Faucet



July 7,1942;` o. s. RE'ID FAQET IFiled Aug. s, 1940 wiwi Y Y Mylan iPatented July 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FAUCET Otto S. Reid,Los Angeles, Calif. Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 350,963

Claims.

This invention relates to valves o! the type commonly referred to asfaucetsA or spigots, and particularly for withdrawing liquids fromcontainers at relatively low pressures, such as water coolers', winebarrels, and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and rugged spigotconstruction which is reliable and trouble-free.

Another object is to provide a spigot that is normally self-closing andmay readily be adjusted to remain in open position.-

Another object is to provide a spigot that is substantially dripless.

Another object is to provide a simple spigot construction in which theclosure element of the spigot is moved against the discharge oriiicethereof, and is maintained in alignment with the discharge oriiiceduring normal opening and closing movements.

This application is in part a continuation of my application Serial No.263,868, led March 24, 1939, on Faucet.

Other more specific objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of a particularembodiment of the invention, the description referring to the drawing inwhich Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a cross section in the plane IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Referring rst to Fig. 1, the spigot therein disclosed comprises a bodymember I having a fluid passage 2 extending thereinto from one end. Thisend of the body member may be externallythreaded as indicated at 3 forinsertion into a barrel, or the like. However, the particular type ofconnection employed is not a part of the present invention. The fluidpassage 2 extends to a point adjacent the forward end of the body memberI, where it makes a right angle bend and merges from the underside ofthe body member. At this point there is attached to the body member I adischarge spout 4 which extends downwardly and has a passage 5 aligningwith the passage 2 in the body member I, the spout 4 being attached tothe body member I by brazing, soldering or welding.

The lower end of the spout 4 is normally closed by a plug 6 of rubber orsimilar material which seals against a seat 1 at the lower end oi thepassage 5 within the spout. 'Ihe lower end of the spout wall is cut awayon the inside to permit the plug 6 to enter upwardly into the spoutbelow the extreme lower lip 8 thereof, whereby the plug 1s concealedfrom view when the faucet is closed.

The plug 8 is supported on a wire element 9 which extends therethrough.'I'hus the wire element 9 has a lower horizontal section III whichmerges at one end into a vertical section II extending through plug 6and merges at the other end into an elongated, upwardly extendingsection I2. The section I2 extends rst upwardly through a groove I3(Fig. 3) in the outer surface of the discharge spout 4 and then througha passage I4 in the end of the body member I beyond the passage 2therein. The section I2 of the rod extends upwardly above the bodymember I a substantial distance and has mounted on its upper end athumbpiece I5. Thus the thumbpiece I5 may be screwed onto the threadedupper end of the section I2 of the rod. To normally maintain the rod 9in uppermost position in which the plug 6 closes the end of the spout, ahelical spring I1 is compressed between the upper side of the bodymember I and a nut I8 on the upper end of the section I2 of the rod,this spring i1 surrounding the rod.

In order to protect and conceal the spring I1, it is enclosed within atelescoping housing, this housing including a skirt member I9 dependingdownwardly from the thumbpiece I5 in overlapping relation with a tubularmember 20 secured to the body member I and extending upwardly therefrom.

A thin metal disc 2I is preferably mounted underneath the plug 6 to giveit better support from the horizontal section I0 oi.' the rod 9.

The groove I3 and the passage I4 guide the vertical section I2 of therod 9 for vertical longitudinal motion, but it does not prevent rotationof the rod section I2. Such rotation would be objectionable in that itmight carry the plug 6 out of registration with the spout member 4 whilethe valve is in open position. However such disaligning motion isprevented by extending the vertical section I I of rod 9 a substantialdistance from the plug 6 into the passage 5 of the discharge spout, andbending this section II rst in one direction and then in the otherdirection, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, so that it bears againstoppositely disposed points in the spout 4 and prevents any swingingmovement of the plug 6 aboutthe rod section I2 as an axis.

The use of the bent rod section I I as shown in Fig. 2 is particularlyadvantageous because the small cross sectional area of the rod preventsany appreciable interference with the free flow of liquid through thespout.

It will be observed from inspection of Figs. 1 and 2, which are drawn tothe same scale, that downward movement of the thumbpiece I5 and theother movable elements of the faucet are limited by contact of the loweredge of the skirt I9 with the body member I to a distance less than thelength of the upwardly extending bent section II of the rod 9, so thatunder no possible condition. of operation can the rod section II becomeremoved from the spout l. Therefore lt is always in guiding engagementwith the spout to center the plug 6 accurately against its seat.

It is sometimes desirable to lock a faucet of the type described in openposition, and I have provided for this in the construction shown. Thusreferring to Figs. l and 4, there is provided on the body member I ascrew 26 projecting upwardly therefrom, closely adjacent the skirt I9and the skirt I9 has an outwardly projecting ear 28 thereon which can beengaged under the head of the screw 28 by first depressing thethumbpiece I5 and then rotating it through a small-angle. This rotationof the thumbpiece I5 and skirt I9 is permissible without simultaneousrotation of the rod section I4 by virtue of the screwthread connectionbetween the thumbpiece and the rod.

Although for the purpose ofexplaining the invention a specificembodiment thereof has been described in substantial detail, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in the particularconstruction shown without departing from the invention, which is to belimited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A spigot comprising: a body member having a discharge spout with anorifice at the lend thereof, a plug member and means for moving itbetween a first position against said orifice in sealing relationtherewith and a second position spaced from said orice to permit fluidflow therethrough, and a guide member projecting from said plug memberinto said spout for guiding said lplug member into seating engagementwith said orifice when said plug member is moved into said firstposition, said guide member comprising a rod element of substantiallysmaller diameter than the internal diameter of said spout and of suchconfiguration as to closely approach the inside surface of said spout ata plurality of circumferentially spaced points thereon, whereby lateraldisplacement of said plug member during opening and closing movementthereof is limited, said guide member approaching closely to, but notcontacting said spout when said plug member is aligned with the spout,whereby said guide member does not increase the frictional resistance toopening and closing movement of said member.

, 2. A spigot comprising: a body member having a discharge spout with anorifice at the end thereof, a plug member and means for moving itbetween a flrst position against said orifice in sealing relationtherewith and a second posit-ion spaced from said orifice to permitfluid flow therethrough, and a guide member projecting from said plugmember into said spout for guiding said plug member into seatingengagement with said orifice when said plug member is moved into saidfirst position, said guide member comprising a rod of smaller diameterthan the internal diameter of said spout and of zigzag shape to closelyapproach the inside surface of said spout at a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced points on said surface, whereby lateraldisplacement of said plug member during opening and closing movementthereof is limited, said guide member approaching closely to, but notcontacting said spout when said plug member is aligned with the spout,whereby said guide member does not increase the frictional resistance toopening and closing movement of said member.

3. A faucet comprising: a body member having afluid passage extendingtherethrough and terminating in a spout having a discharge orifice, aplug adapted to seat against and close said discharge orifice, aplug-actuating rod extending alongside said spout and connected to saidplug adjacent its lower end, said body member having guide meansslidably supporting said rod for longitudinal and rotary movement,spring means for moving said rod to seat said plug against said orifice,handle means on said rod whereby it may be depressed against the forceof said spring to unseat said plug, said rod having a return bendtherein with the return end portion extending into said spout, and saidplug being mounted on said return bent portion, said rod projectingbeyond said plug into said spout and being shaped to closely approachthe inside surface of said spout at a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced points thereon, whereby swinging movement of said return-bendportion and of said rod about the main portion of said rod as an axis islimited, said guide member approaching closely to, but not contactingsaid spout when said plug is aligned with the spout, whereby said guidemember does not increase the frictional resistance to opening andclosing movement of said member.

4. A faucet comprising a body member having a fluid passage extendingtherethrough, said body member terminating in a spout, the lower end ofwhich spout constitutes a discharge orifice, a plug adapted to seatagainst and close said discharge orifice, a plug-actuating rod extendingexterior of and alongside said spout and connected to said plug adjacentone end, said rod being offset with respect to said plug, guide means onsaid body member for slidably supporting said rod for longitudinalmovement, spring means for moving said rod in one direction to seat saidplug against said orifice, handle means on said rod for depressing itagainst the force of said spring to unseat said plug, said rod beingexterior of the fluid passage in the body member, whereby the need forfluid-tight joints between the rod and body member is eliminated, andmeans for limiting rotation of said rod about its axis in all verticalpositions thereof, whereby said plug is maintained in at leastapproximate alignment with said seat.

5. A faucet comprising an elongated, horizontal body member having afluid passage extending thereinto from one end and terminating short ofthe other end, a spout depending downwardly from said body member andcommunicating with said uid passage, the lower end of said spoutconstituting a discharge orifice, a plug adapted to seat against andclose said discharge orifice, a plug-actuating rod extending alongsidesaid spout and connected to said plug adjacent its lower end, said bodymember having guide means slidably supporting said rod for longitudinalmovement, spring means for moving said rod upwardly to seat said plugagainst said orifice, and handle means on said rod whereby it may bedepressed against the force of said spring to unseat said plug, said rodbeing exterior of the fluid passage in the body member and spout,whereby need for fluid-tight joints between rod, body member and spoutis eliminated, said rod having a return bend therein with the upturnedend portion extending into said spout and said plug being mounted onsaid upturned end portion, and means limiting downward travel of saidrod to a predetermined value less than the distance said upturned endportion projects into said spout, whereby said end portion maintainssaid plug in approximate align- 5 ment with said oriice at all times.

O'I'I'O S. REID.

